In an exclusive interview with Diabetes Voice, Badara Samb, the World Health Organization’s Coordinator for Health Systems Strengthening, tells us why NCD programmes have remained at the bottom of the agenda for global health development and outlines the factors that limit countries' capacity to implement proven strategies for chronic diseases. Professor Samb is an experienced epidemiologist and public health physician, who started working with UNICEF early in his career, and later undertook research at INSERM and work with the UN on AIDS. In addition to his role with WHO, he has a chair in health and international relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.